INTRODUCTION

“Feeding the World Today and Tomorrow that is the importance of Food Science and Technology”-
John D. Foloros

Consumers’ food choices are driven by the issues of safety, taste, convenience, health, and value. In
the food chemistry arena, these factors provide the impetus for continued research on both
convenience foods and foods with healthful or physiologically beneficial components. The goals and
methodologies employed in food science and technology world are evolving and expanding to meet
future industry, regulatory, and consumer requirements.

For example, in recent years there has been a tremendous increase in the amount of research focusing
on the identification of the naturally occurring chemicals in foods that provide healthful benefits and
their use as ingredients in a broad spectrum of products.

Despite economic trends in Nigeria, the food industry will continue to respond to consumer demand
for healthier, more-convenient foods. It will be the responsibility of the food scientist to develop such
products and adopt the analytical methods required to meet these new challenges.

That being said, food science is the study of the physical, biological, and chemical makeup of food;
the causes of food deterioration; and the concepts underlying food processing. WHILE

Food technology is the application of food science to the selection, preservation, processing,
packaging, distribution, and use of safe food.

Food scientists and technologists apply scientific disciplines including chemistry, engineering,
microbiology, and nutrition to the study of food to improve the safety, nutrition, wholesomeness and
availability of food. Food Science has given us: frozen foods, canned foods, microwave meals,
snacks, nutritious new foods, more easily prepared traditional foods and above all, VARIETY in our
diets.

THE FUTURE OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN NIGERIA

The food we consume in the future will be determined largely by the interaction of socioeconomic
conditions and food technology as there will changes in foods and eating habits which will reflect
nutritional, cultural, and socioeconomic needs. The development of new products, the need to reduce
energy consumption, and concerns over the food supply are reasons are reasons why food science and
technology is important in Nigeria. On the other hand, the emergence of change in certain
socioeconomic factors may create a climate that forces or encourages the industry to change,
economic incentives to the contrary. Food Science and Technology will be able to supply needed
solution to the world’s food problems. Although there are many differing conceptions of what the
world or Nigeria may be like the year 2020 and beyond, the outlook is in general more optimistic than
pessimistic.
One accepted method of predicting and understanding possible changes in the world’s future is to
identify present trends. The following are some of these trends that certain futurist believe will, if
continue, make the world different in the future:  Increasing world political unification and cultural
standardization  Growing affluence with resulting increase in leisure time  Industrial orientation 
Increase longevity and personal mobility  Rising educational levels  Greater emphasis on
religion.That these trends if continued into the future, will affect all segments of our lives is not in
question; and since the importance of food in our lives cannot be questioned either, it is essential that
we be aware of changing conditions that will affect the food sector. It is important to note that
Nigerian consumers spent an estimated over One trillion Naira per annum for domestically produced
food annually, going by our current population of over 160 million people. Two third of these
spending was for food processing. As a result of increase in food expenditure, food processing
industries take a large share of these expenditure. This is an impetus for food industry to develop and
adopt technologies that will help lower food processing costs. The development of new products, the
need to reduce energy consumption, and concerns over the food supply are other reasons for
developing new food processing technologies.
A comprehensive summary of the seven highest priority for Food Science and Technology in the
future is as follows:

 Fabricated food: The technologies that are engaged to produce fabricated or engineered foods
are considered high priority candidates for assessment because they are already in use, their
impacts have already been felt and their development and use will continue in years ahead.
 Adequate labelling and resource use: How should these foods be labelled to properly identify
ingredients, at the same time not putting a barrier to consumer’s choice.
 Contamination of food and food products: During haulage, food contamination has two
major causes: The vehicles are not cleaned adequately and may be infested with pests,
chemicals and microorganisms, or vehicles used to transport foods might have been
previously used in conveying toxic chemicals, residues of which remain. Several solutions to
this problem are possible. Our rail roads must be equipped with tracking devise to monitor
carriages used in conveying toxicants; special refrigerated vehicles must be dedicated to
haulage of food systems especially perishable ones. More thorough cleaning techniques must
be developed for the haulage systems.
 Food Wastage: Technologies that reduce the extent of these losses can help substantially to
increase the food supply available from existing resources is important as the world pressure
on food increases. Waste resulting from mechanical harvesting might be reduced by improved
harvesting technologies. Waste resulting from spoilage and bruising in transportation might
be reduced by using such alternatives as bulk packing on the field for short distance delivery
to stores or by educating consumers to the benefits of damaged, and equally nutritious,
produce.
 Another area to be considered is the potential for utilizing produce that does not meet grade
standards as a result of the out of size range or blemish, what consumer objections would
have to be overcome to accomplish this, and whether it would be economically feasible.
Technologies to reduce losses at retail, such as the electronic checkout for better inventory
control should be considered and better designed locking system for rail wagons and road
transport trucks to reduce losses during transportation.
 Returnable and recyclable containers Technologies for recyclable containers, returnable cans
and bottles, and other refillable containers have a high probability of being an important part
of our future, and the impacts of adoption will be widespread. These technologies have
developed because of the socio-economic pressure, and the pressure will in all events
continue to build up for new solutions through technology to the problems of conserving
natural resources and reducing the expense of keeping our environment free of pollution from
discarded containers. The public must be interested in the concept of recycling, even if the
specific technologies or systems used now may not have met with their approval.
CONCLUSION
There is a high possibility that these technologies will play an extensive role in revolutionizing our
food processing system in the future. This early warning signals for decision makers to allow them to
plan for the long-term consequences of these technological applications in food Technology. Decision
makers now have an advanced opportunity to examine the many ways in which these technologies
will affect agricultural production, food manufacturers, and processors, food retailers and peoples‟
lives.
References: 1. Chou, M. (1974). Changing Food Policies. Nutrition Review 32,5 2. Harper, A.E.
(1978). What are appropriate Dietary Guidelines? Food Technology pg 48, Baker, R. C. and
Robinson, W.B. (1975) 3. Potential increases in Food supply through research in Agriculture. Paper
prepared for National Science Foundation, pages 23-25. 4. Schlossberg, K. (1978). “The
Congressional Hearing Mechanism” Food Technology,32(2):78-82. 5. Chou, M. and Harmon, D. P.
(1980). “Critical Food Issues of the Eighties”. Pergamon Press, Maxwell House, Fairview Park, Elms,
New York, 10523. 6. Malomo, O. (1980). Food Technology in Nigeria in the 1990s. Challenges and
Prospects. Nigerian Food Technology, 8, 2- 7. International Journal of Current Microbiology and
Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 4 Number 2 (2015) pp. 1067-1076
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